38 lakh cotton bales came to Gujarat’s market yards till Jan 15

Ahmedabad: The textile industry in Gujarat is optimistic as the arrival of cotton at market yards has been strong this season. According to data from the GujCot Association, the state has seen around 38 lakh bales (170kg each) from Oct 1 to Jan 15.
The state is seeing about 45,000 bales arrive every day despite cotton prices being significantly lower than last year.Across India, cotton arrivals reached 1.35 crore bales till Jan 15. GujCot Association secretary Ajay Shah said, “By our estimates, Gujarat will have around 85 lakh bales for pressing in the cotton season of 2023-24 (Oct 2023 to Sept 2024). This year, arrivals have been stronger with a daily average of 45,000 bales in Gujarat. Last year, farmers were not selling the crop in volume, so arrivals were low. This year prices have decreased but farmers are selling cotton.”
According to GujCot data, good quality raw cotton is priced at around Rs 1,450 per 20kg while low quality cotton is priced at around Rs 1,250 per 20kg. Processed cotton prices have remained at around Rs 55,000 a candy (356kg) for about a month, which has brought stability to the textile industry.
Cotton prices had reached Rs 1.10 lakh per candy due to low supply in May 2022 and this affected the textile industry badly. Since Dec, cotton yarn export orders have also increased, according to the Spinners Association Gujarat. (SAG).
Naresh Sharma, secretary of Maskati Cloth Market Association, said, “Cotton arrivals have been encouraging for the industry because they have ensured stability in prices. We hope that with improved capacity utilization in the spinning sector, there will be better market conditions for the entire value chain.”